If the iPhone 7 flopped I could easily see those numbers decrease across the board. I lived in a time when Sony was unstoppable and
I wouldn't be surprised 10 years from now if Apple becomes average. Virtual reality such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Microsoft Augmented reality are expected to be big news in 2016 and beyond. If this catches as the next big thing where is Apple in all of this? What is Apple's game plan? Other than the iPhone I don't see any game changer for Apple. The Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac and iPad lineup will not keep Apple at the top long term. And God forbid the iPhone flops one of these years. I just don't see Tim Cook releasing a game changer anytime soon. Looking back on 2015 Apple had a average play it safe year.
Other than iPhone 7 what does Apple really have in 2016 that would be must buy status?
But can you realistically say that if the iPhone somehow flops that people would still invest in other Apple products? Maybe the Mac would continue those numbers but I don't see the other iOS like products holding their own. iPads are basically slowing down each year and watches don't have to be replaced every time a new model comes out. Apple TV is still a hobby and is not at must buy status.
Anything is possible. A future iPhone could be a "flop"
Though I think the smart folks at Apple will do everything in their power to NOT let that happen. They've made very positive decisions these last 8 years.
Or people could stop buying iPhones... which is unlikely since iOS is a pretty great platform and Apple is the only company who makes iOS smartphones. There is enough of an audience there. iPhones will never sell in the volume of Android phones... but that's understandable since iPhones are fairly expensive. Yet they're obviously not
too expensive since Apple sells more than enough of them.
Blackberry is in a pretty bad place right now because people stopped buying Blackberries and started buying other platforms such as iOS and Android. Blackberry really dropped the ball. They weren't able to compete with iOS and Android. Neither did Windows Phone. And Palm left the market years ago.
So for people to stop buying iPhones... either there needs to be a resurgence in Windows Phone or Blackberry... or a
new platform needs to come onto the scene. I don't think either of those things are possible today though.
People could leave iPhone for Android... which I'm sure happens to some degree already. But it's probably the same situation when a Mac user switches to a Windows PC. You get used to the way a certain platform operates... so you gotta have a damn good reason to switch in order to put up with the differences. Though I would imagine that most people with iPhones tend to buy another iPhone. They like them.
Macs had a market long before the iPhone... so they aren't necessarily linked. But there is some degree of "halo effect" where you buy a Mac after you've had positive experiences with and iPhone or iPad. But like I said... Macs were a thing long before the iPhone. And Apple sells more than enough Macs to keep them going. Did you ever wonder why Apple has been able to sell Macs for over 30 years... while many other PC companies either went out of business or were acquired by other failing PC companies?
Virtual Reality is cool... but I don't think it will ever be as common and necessary as smartphones, tablets and computers. VR is something that you have to plan to use... since you put on a helmet that blocks your field of view completely. It's not an all-day thing.
Augmented Reality seems more promising since you're still part of the real world. But for the next couple years it's still gonna require a clunky visor.
I would have thought products like Google Glass would be popular since it's a (semi) unobtrusive device that is simply perched upon your eyeglasses. You could get information in your eyeball by just speaking. But Google Glass flopped because of social issues: people don't like a camera pointed at them 24/7
But here's the deal... if VR or AR is something that looks to be the next big thing... Apple could get into the industry with no problem. Their huge cash reserves enable them to make things happen. There's probably some Israeli company working on VR/AR that Apple could buy for a couple hundred million dollars... and turn it into a billion dollar product.
But I just don't think VR/AR is something that will be a popular
consumer product.
So yeah... Apple without the iPhone would be a very different company. Though I can't imagine a scenario where Apple stops selling the iPhone. It may be the Macintosh of this generation: low-volume yet insanely profitable.
